Posts Tagged ‘Manhattan’

13 Places to Celebrate New Year’s Eve in New York City and Environs

New Year’s celebrations in New York City can be over-the-top or serene if you’d prefer. There are so many choices that it might be hard to choose. Here are 11 of the most interesting ones still available for booking plus two outside of the city.

Restaurants and Clubs

Courtesy La Mercerie

La Mercerie

Join La Mercerie in Soho for an exuberant and elegant New Year’s Eve celebration complete with live music and dancing, a cocktail party at Guild Bar and exquisite Champagne—all inspired by the raucous splendor of a 1950s French-Caribbean resort. Included on the New York Times “Best Restaurants of 2023” list, La Mercerie is offering a special prix fixe menu from Chef Marie-Aude Rose with dishes like papillote of red snapper, beef filet with green pepper sauce, and spicy chocolate truffles. Two seatings are available. Reservations via Resy.

Courtesy Loreley Beer Garden

Loreley Beer Garden

The New Year’s Eve Masquerade celebration at Loreley Beer Garden on the Lower East Side starts with a happy hour from 5pm – 10pm and continues with a Champagne toast at midnight for the ball drop. Masquerade masks will be provided but it’s fine to bring your own in exchange for a free drink. Instead of a prix fixe menu, the beer garden’s full menu will be offered à la carte. Guests can enjoy festive holiday drinks like Boozy Bourbon Black & White Hot Chocolate with toasted marshmallows, Spiked Eggnog with whipped cream and caramel, Hot Bourbon Apple CiderPeppermint Nitro Martini with a candy cane, hot Gluhwein, winter sangria, seasonal craft beers, and hot toddies in their Winter Wonderland decked out with over-the-top holiday lights and décor both indoors and outdoors – don’t worry both are heated! Reservations are recommended but walk-ins are accepted.

Cocktail Trolley Experience - Courtesy 9 Jones

9 Jones

Sophistication reigns supreme for New Year’s Eve at  West Village’s 9 Jones, a British-inspired semi-private club that blends New York City edge with refined elegance. The restaurant transforms for the evening  into a Champagne and caviar lounge featuring an interactive bespoke cocktail cart in a sexy atmosphere enhanced by silent black and white movies projected onto the ceiling and the celebratory ball drop at midnight. The evening’s party and caviar-centric prix fixe menu paired with bubbly cocktails and Champagne can be reserved on Resy .

Courtesy Alligator Pear

Alligator Pear

Steps from Madison Square Garden, Alligator Pear celebrates its first New  Year’s bash with a premium open bar showcasing its creative, curated selection of cocktails (alcoholic/non-alcoholic), wines, fine beers and spirits. Guests are invited to attend in their finest attire for an evening of live DJ performances, libations and a glittering Champagne toast at the stroke of midnight. Chef Dominick Lee’s Louisiana-inspired menu will be available. Reservations/tickets through Eventbrite.

Courtesy Caviar Russe

Caviar Russe

Recently awarded its 10th Michelin star in a row, the Midtown eatery is offering a decadent New Year’s Eve celebration, with various tiers depending on how you’re seeking to indulge. For an early seating in its dining room, Executive Chef Edgar Panchernikov will prepare a special prix fixe caviar-centric menu of seared foie gras, its signature Golden Egg with caviar and parmesan foam, Dover Sole in a caviar beurre blanc sauce and a canelle with caviar. Also included are 25g of its signature Gold Osetra caviar and a glass of Dom Perignon. The second seating adds white truffle tagliatelle to ring in the New Year with special booth seating pricing available. For those seeking a more festive, lively atmosphere guests may reserve spots in its ground floor bar and lounge area where live modern jazz plays throughout the evening by Richie Nuzz and his band. A select menu with caviar and other options is available. Reservations through Resy .

Courtesy Agency of Record

Agency of Record

Located in the heart of Midtown, the swanky Midtown cocktail bar and restaurant invites you to celebrate New Year’s Eve old-style – think 1960s —  with a DJ booth spinning records on vinyl, Mad Men-inspired decor, inventive drinks (try the A+B test, made with blanco tequila, aged cachaca, sotol, Thai chili, lychee and lime) and celebratory bites from Ed Carew (standouts are the lobster cocktail and duck fat fries. Reservations through Resy.

Rotunda Courtesy The Pierre

The Pierre

The Pierre offers multiple options for a festive New Year’s Eve. Enjoy Big Band-style music by Antonio Ciacca and his trio in The Pierre’s iconic Rotunda with a midnight Champagne toast.  Early seating starting at 5pm features a three-course menu. The second seating at 8:30 pm offers 5-course menu with a live performance in Perrine restaurant  followed by dancing in the Rotunda and a midnight toast.  A third option, KT Sullivan and the Sutton Place Trio entertain with American Songbook standards in the TwoE lounge. After a festive lite menu and a Taittinger toast along with a “live” large-screen ball-drop broadcast from Times Square, dancing continues into the wee hourss. Masks, hats, party favors, cow bells and noise makers will be given out as the clock strikes midnight.

Boqueria © Liz Clayman

Boqueria

Boqueria’s multiple Spanish tapas emporiums will ring in 2024 with a generous prix fixe tapas feast and unlimited drinks at its Soho, Flatiron, Upper East Side and West 40th Street locations. The tapas menu includes albóndigas (meatballs), gambas al ajillo (shrimp in garlic), patatas bravas, pan con tamate y jamón serrano (tomato bread with jamón serrano), short rib stuffed piquillo peppers, bacon-wrapped stuffed dates, churros with chocolate and more. During each of the three evening seatings, Boqueria will observe  the traditional Spanish ritual of las doce uvas de la suerte (the twelve grapes of luck). The tradition dates back to 1895 and is meant to bring good luck and prosperity in the year to come. As the clock chimes 12 times, guests will eat one grape each time the bell tolls, making a wish for each grape. The 12 grapes and bell tolls represent the 12 months of the year. Reservations through Resy.

Manhattan Hotels to Overnight

Courtesy Tempo by Hilton Times Square

Tempo by Hilton Times Square

Tempo by Hilton Times Square brings you up close and personal with the Times Square Ball Drop without needing to join the crowds outdoors. The hotel’s ritzy cocktail lounge and restaurant Highball is hosting a festive New Year’s Eve. Celebration. Skip the trip home and book the hotel’s “NYE Ticket and Room” package — the Ball Drop Rooms offer coveted birds-eye views of the Times Square Ball and the crowds just beneath. Tickets for the party as well as the hotel stay are available here.

Courtesy The Knickerbocker Hotel

The Knickerbocker

In the heart of Times Square, only 150 feet from the Ball Drop,  The Knickerbocker, is a perfect stage for viewing the New Year’s event below. Select the rooftop party package or an overnight stay following the party (included). A variety of packages are available. You can also add a Champagne welcome and midnight Dom Perigon toast, a buffet dinner at Charlie Palmer at The Knick, and open bar at the rooftop St. Cloud for entertainment, live DJ music and amazing views.

Courtesy Arlo NoMad

Arlo NoMad

Opulence is the watchword for New Year’s at trendsetter Arlo NoMad hotel. Indulge in a night of luxury with a four-hour open bar and two dance floors covering a variety of genres of music from top 40 hits to, Afrobeats, hip hop, house music or classics. Book a table for the hotel’s exquisite dinner experience from Lamalo and then head up to ART NoMad on the rooftop for a Champagne toast while experiencing the light show on the Empire State Building at midnight. Tickets are available through Eventbrite. For table reservations, contact info@trulyyoursnyc.com.

Hotels Close to New York City

Looking for an escape from the city? Here are two getaways within several hours of NYC.

Canoe Place © Meryl Pearlstein

Canoe Place – Hampton Bays, New York

Celebrate at gorgeous Canoe Place for their first New Year’s Eve bash. At the Hampton’s newest resort, the Celebration Escape package includes luxurious accommodations, a five-course prix fixe dinner for two, endless Champagne, live music featuring the Ken Fowser Trio, and an exclusive invitation to welcome 2024 in The Study with dancing and a celebratory countdown. After, enjoy your luxe room or sit by the fireplace and soak in the history of this amazing building that dates from the 1920s. Reservations here.

Courtesy Urban Cowboy Lodge

Urban Cowboy Lodge – Catskills, New York

Ring in 2024 at the mountain lodge in the Big Indian Wilderness. Set on 68 acres in the heart of the Catskills, the 26-room boutique hotel is a world away from NYC. Enjoy a forest bath in the soaking tubs, eat and drink at the award-winning Public House restaurant, warm up in the Estonian sauna, or just relax by the roaring fire and star watch. On New Year’s Eve, the fires will be glowing, drinks will be flowing, and music will be playing. And that’s only the beginning. The evening includes a spectacular fireworks display, a tasting menu offered at multiple seatings, a Champagne toast, and a DJ for late-night dancing. Timed for both early and late risers, there’s also brunch on New Year’s Day.

New York City Sports Bars

It’s sweltering hot and you may not be thinking football at the moment, but training camp starts before you know it and then it’s time for the Superbowl. Here are eight places to visit to get your fix of sports life and football fandom. And, of course, if football isn’t on your radar yet, you can go to these bars to watch what’s left of  baseball season.

Bounce © Poselski Photos

Bounce

Want some DJ music to accompany the triples and touchdowns?  Bounce is the place for you. With more of a club feel than a sports bar, Bounce sets a new tone in Chelsea with bottle service to keep the vibe with a mix of music and sport. You might need to dress up a bit for this one, or at least trade your ripped blue jeans for a pair of tailored black ones. Reservations are needed and there’s even a tab on the website to let you know what the wait time is. A curated wings menu complements trendier bites like poke tacos, truffle mushroom flatbread and avocado toast with black kale. https://bouncesportingclub.com/

Courtesy The Supply House

The Supply House

If you find yourself on the Upper East Side, The Supply House is a comfortable favorite for watching the game and enjoying a day or evening with friends. You’re invited to pre-game, too, as The Supply House opens at 10am daily. Lined with brick walls, The Supply House has an industrial-meets-my favorite apartment feel and has large glass windows that are open during warmer months. The beer menu is fiercely local with a variety of unusual craft brews, and the burgers feature Pat LaFrieda’s incomparable blend of brisket, chuck and short rib. https://www.thesupplyhousenyc.com

Courtesy Blondies

Blondies

Upper West Siders have been flocking to Blondies for years for a basic sports bar experience. Reservations are accepted for large groups and are advisable on key game days. The bonus here is that screens actually play the games with volume so diehards don’t have to listen with earbuds on their phone while they watch. Along with typical burgers, tacos and other sports bar fare, the smothered wafer fries topped with cheese, chili, jalapenos, onions and sour cream are a messy standout.  Don’t miss their popular chicken wings either.  https://www.blondiessports.getsauce.com/

Courtesy Off the Wagon

Off the Wagon

For the past 26 years, Off the Wagon has been the home for NYU students and Greenwich Village locals to watch sports in its bi-level space. Open well past the final touchdown until 4am, the sports bar has 17 TV’s and a giant 100” screen showing games all over the country. There are 29 draft, bottled and canned beers; hard seltzers; and lots of other spirits to keep you animated. Food choices range from tacos and burgers to a variety of wraps. There are also choices for vegetarians. On select nights, DJs amp up the spirit.  https://www.offthewagonnyc.com/

Courtesy BK Backyard Bar

BK Backyard Bar

Brooklynites can replicate their stadium experiences at Williamsburg’s outdoor sports bar. With heated cabanas with personal TVs when the weather finally turns chilly, the shipping containers-turned-bar offers two rustic settings for drinking, eating and cheering, designed during Covid times to avoid a rave-like crush. Bottle service adds a bit of cachet. BK’s Mexican street food menu comes from Brooklyn’s Mr. Taco. Reservations are accepted for parties of four or more. https://www.tailgatebk.com/

Courtesy Smithfield Hall NYC

Smithfield Hall NYC

A hybrid for indoor and outdoor sports watching, Manhattan’s Smithfield Hall is an easy walk from Madison Square Garden. The outdoor covered area has nine heated tables with eight television screens to entertain you even in inclement weather. Indoors there are two bars, 27 tables and 26 TVs, accommodating fans of all teams (the bar conveniently posts a schedule of games on their website). The diverse menu includes vegetarian as well as fan-fave dishes. Wear your team jersey and enjoy the experience. https://smithfieldnyc.com

Courtesy Down the Hatch

Down the Hatch

If the first pitch or kickoff time right, book a table to enjoy Down the Hatch’s Bottomless Basement Brunch on Saturday and Sunday. The popular Greenwich Village college favorite offers unlimited domestic drafts, seltzers and mimosas to wash down wings, waffle fries or tater tots and onion rings for a set price of $40 per person. On other days or evenings, get ready for the game opening with a Ghost Pepper Spicy Margarita, jello shot or creative menu of craft beers. If you’re a Jets fan, you’ll have lots of company here. https://www.downthehatchnyc.com

Courtesy Redemption

Redemption
The haven for Washington fans, Redemption guarantees a solid Midtown East sports bar experience without your needing to shell out big bucks. The brick-walled sports lounge is a blend of sports bar and night club. The beer menu of some 30 draft, bottled and craft choices spans the globe. Not into beer? There are many creative libations including their version of frosé, made with Champagne and strawberry puree. The food menu includes burgers, wings, tacos and finger food. You can also reserve one of their private rooms and bring all your besties together for a spirited evening. https://redemptionnyc.com/

A British Comedy Festival Comes to New York City

Three stellar comedians from the UK will have New York City audiences in stitches thanks to the new “Crossing the Pond” comedy festival taking place this winter and spring at Town Hall. The British standup stars will take the stage in January, February and June.

Romesh Ranganathan © Anthony Mulcahy

Netflix and BBC star Romesh Ranganathan led off this weekend with his uproarious brand of misanthropic comedic commentary, leaving no stone unturned. Romesh’s jibes ranged from a prepared, yet flawlessly delivered routine to spontaneous digressions keyed off of interactions from the audience. The title of his memoir, “Straight Outta Crawley: The Memoirs of a Distinctly Average Human Being” hinted at what was to come in his monologue.

Romesh Ranganathan © Anthony Mulcahy

No subject is taboo for Mr. Ranganathan. His Sri Lankan-British background is fodder for a “fish out of water” dialogue, repeatedly self-deprecating, noting his brown skin as a contrast to those he grew up with. A discussion about bathroom hygiene was far more ribald than that sounds – I’ll leave it to your imagination. He, at times, skewered his British counterparts, detailing the differences between their responses and the American reaction to his shows. As he strode across the stage, changing gears and tempos, talking intermittently about his wife, his kids, the world, his love of hip hop music, and his own appearance in contrast to those around him, he would pause to seemingly take a breath, regroup, and “read” those sitting in the front row.

Hilarious, risqué and a pure treat on an unusually balmy Saturday night in New York City, the show was a marvel reminding us to take a look at the pandemic that we have survived and turn it into memories that could be tinged with laughter. It would be a pleasure to welcome Romesh back for more comedic skewering. If you missed him in person, you can get a sense of his brand of humor by googlinge his appearances on James Corden’s Late Late Show and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. His standup special “The Cynic” is available on Netflix.

Joanne McNally Courtesy of Off the Kerb Productions

On February 3, Joanne McNally brings her “Prosecco Express” routine to Town Hall. With appearances on the BBC Festival of Funny, Comedy Central and others, the comedienne has a brand of comedy that can only be labelled “joyously nuts.” Audiences in Ireland and the UK also know her for her stand-up show The Wine Tamer presented at major venues including the London Palladium and Vicar Street in Dublin. For more of her humor, you can listen to her podcast “My Therapist Ghosted Me.” Her shows with insightful titles such as “Baby Hater” and “Bite Me” have been viewed on Comedy Central as well.

Alan Carr Courtesy of Off the Kerb Productions

The final performance in the series, BAFTA-winning comedian Alan Carr makes his US debut on Friday, June 2. He is known to audiences in the UK form his 16 series of Channel 4’s Chatty Man and has been a guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK. Carr also has a popular podcast, “Life’s a Beach” so you can have a taste of his routines prior to the US show.

Tickets for all shows are available at www.thetownhall.org in Manhattan. The festival is in conjunction with Off the Kerb Productions, representing the finest in comedy in the UK.

Foodies, Get Your Forks Ready! It’s Restaurant Week (er, Restaurant Month) Again in New York City through February 12

This year 515 restaurants are giving foodies a chance to enjoy some deep discounts while tucking into wonderful chef creations. Offering two-course lunch (starter and main, or main and dessert) and three course dinner (appetizer, entrée, dessert) prix fixe menus priced at $30, $45 and $60 with some variations, these New York City eateries invite you to sample their culinary wizardry without breaking the bank. Fortunately, the “week” lasts until mid-February so you have time to choose. Check the details as some meals are only offered on certain days. And, no worries, none of these will give you an experience like the one “enjoyed” by invited guests at Le Menu — you can still order a hamburger at some, no strings attached.

Here are 23 exceptional choices for your consideration for Winter Restaurant Week 2023.

Courtesy David Burke Tavern

David Burke Tavern’s three-course Restaurant Week dinner is priced low at $45, offered Tuesday through Sunday. You’ll be able to try Burke’s signature entrees like DB brined and roasted chicken with toasted faro, wild mushrooms and kale; and wild mushroom ravioli with its intriguing combination flavor profile of parmesan, sage, pomegranate and chocolate balsamic. All can be complemented by a selection from the special Restaurant Week $40 wine list. Three sides are also being offered for a reduced price of $15. The restaurant offers a $30 two-course lunch Restaurant Week menu as well.

Seeds and Weeds credit Hallie Burton

New York City has recently announced the arrival of the Tin Building, the sprawling culinary marketplace at The Seaport brought to life by Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Weekly lunch specials can be found at four of the building’s new restaurants: T. Brasserie, a French brasserie; The Frenchman’s Dough, where freshly made pizzas and pastas are served daily; House of the Red Pearl, a sexy fine dining restaurant serving Chinese-inspired dishes; and Seeds and Weeds, a sustainable and artisanal plant-based eatery focusing on using the fresh ingredients of the day. Seeds and Weeds also offers a Restaurant Week dinner.

Courtesy The Fulton

Nearby, set in the heart of the Seaport with stunning river views, The Fulton serves up Restaurant Week lunch and dinner menus featuring the celebratory-feeling petit seafood plateau of oysters, shrimp cocktail and sashimi; and mains such as ume sesame crusted salmon. And, here’s where you can order a French take on a hamburger, Fulton’s Gruyère cheeseburger au jus.

Street Performers Courtesy Mercado Little Spain

How about a movie with your specially priced dinner?  Mercado Little Spain from superstar chef Jose Andres is hosting Monday Movie Nights on the big screen at Spanish Diner, extending beyond the end of Restaurant Week until February 27. Grab some complimentary popcorn and settle in to watch a selection of Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar movies while munching on Spanish Diner’s beloved huevos rotos (broken eggs) and fricando de ternera (traditional Catalan beef stew). Movies are shown at 7:30pm with a lineup of Bad Education, Volver, Parallel Mothers, All About My Mother, Julieta and Matador. Come prepared to read subtitles and have a great time. Not enough evening entertainment? On Thursday evenings from 6-8pm, Mercado Little Spain is bringing in street performers who will roam the market space.

Courtesy Tavern on the Green

You can’t find a prettier place to dine at than Tavern on the Green. Tavern’s $45 lunch includes a choice of appetizers such as Tavern black bean soup, baby spinach salad and grilled portobello mushroom flatbread. Entrées include pan-roasted medallions of monkfish and Angus skirt steak. For just $15 more, you can enjoy a lovely dinner including additional appetizer choices like caramelized garlic shrimp and a three-leaf salad. Dinner offerings include hearth-baked Chatham codfish and mustard-crusted organic chicken breast. For dessert, there’s New York cheesecake, warm apple crisp and carrot cake.

Courtesy Piggyback

Who doesn’t want to enjoy a cocktail tasting with their Restaurant Week special? Piggyback, sibling to the Lower East Side’s Pig and Khao by Chef Leah Cohen, is an Asian-inspired gastropub in Chelsea. Tuesday through Friday, diners can enjoy a three-course lunch prix fixe menu for $28 or a three-course dinner experience for $60 from Tuesday through Saturday. In addition, a vegetarian prix fixe dinner option is offered for $50 per person. Highlights include lumpia Shanghai, Malaysian fried chicken and sticky toffee cake. For those not observing Dry January or if you’re dining in February, Piggyback also offers a cocktail tasting for $32 per person.

Courtesy The Grid at Great Jones Distilling Co.

Whisky drinkers can add a flight of spirits to their meal at The Grid at Great Jones Distilling Co. At this restaurant within Manhattan’s first whiskey distillery since Prohibition, you’ll enjoy a three-course prix fixe menu along with a Great Jones Distilling Co. whiskey flight of three signature whiskies, all for only $45. The menu takes advantage of the season with mushrooms in their porcini mushroom veloute appetizer and the forest mushroom fusilli. Dessert is a fabulous sticky toffee pudding that blends perfectly with a whiskey. This is also the home of another delicious NYC burger, served with Great Jones bourbon and bacon jam. There’s no way to lose here!

Baar Baar © Noah Fecks

Baar Baar, a modern Indian gastro pub located in the East Village, offers a well-priced opportunity to sample Chef Sarkar’s homage to regional Indian cuisine. For Restaurant Week, the restaurant has put together a three-course dinner for $45, Monday through Friday and Sunday. There are many exotic choices to tempt you to be adventurous including pork belly or lamb keema Hyderabadi to start, beef short rib curry or bronzini Paturi with Bengal mustard cream for mains, and carrot halwa cake with phirni mousse and saffron-pistachio ice cream for dessert. As a bonus, you also get a canape and choice of side.

Courtesy IRIS

Inspired by the rich culinary traditions of the Mediterranean, talented Chef John Fraser explores the cuisine of the Aegean at IRIS, drawing upon his Greek heritage and admiration for Turkish cuisine. The special menus include the likes of delicata squash flatbread or grilled octopus with candied citrus to start, moussaka and branzino fillet entrees, and fig sorbet and pistachio baklava for dessert. The restaurant’s wine program covers Turkey and Greece offering an extensive e selection of vintages from the two countries as well as from other areas of the world. IRIS is perfectly located for those planning to attend a performance at Carnegie Hall or a Broadway play.

Courtesy La Marchande

Moving from the Mediterranean to France, La Marchande is Chef Fraser’s modernized take on the French brasserie in a FiDi location convenient for those working in the Wall Street area. Signature dishes show off Fraser’s global dexterity with French onion dumplings in mushroom consommé, hanger steak with shiso chimichurri sauce, and apple tarte tatin for dessert.

Fandi Mat © Andrea Grujic

Brooklyn’s Fandi Mata is a bi-level, industrial space featuring a Mediterranean-inspired menu. Specials here are a $60 three-course menu and $30 bottle of wine. The menu features appetizers such as spice-crusted tuna topped with ginger Champagne sauce and tahini, and burrata and heirloom tomato salad with spiced date jam, mint, pistachio and pea sprouts. For your mains, creative dishes include ribeye with bone marrow with black pepper sauce, lamb tagine, branzino en papillote, or one of Fandi Mata’s signature pizzas. Dessert is a surprise – it’s the chef’s selection.

Courtesy Lincoln Ristorante

Have you been dying to see the inside of the new David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center? Here’s the perfect restaurant for your pre-concert or post-concert dinner. Onsite Lincoln Ristorante presents an authentic Italian feast for $60. Choose among burrata, frito misto, or a romaine salad with anchovy-garlic dressing to start your meal. For your entree, order the gnocco alla romana with oxtail and shitakes. You can also opt for spaghetti cacio e pepe served with shaved cured egg yolk. Finish with a sweet warm pear and raisin crostata with grappa caramel or pinola al chocolate.

Courtesy IXTA

If Mexican is your preference, you won’t be lacking for choices at IXTA, the Mexican Cocina and Mezcal Bar on the Bowery. The restaurant offer an elevated twist on the traditional flavors of Oaxacan cuisine for $60. Choices include guacamole and flautas dorados to begin, followed by half organic roasted chicken with housemade mole poblano and sesame, braised short ribs, or enchiladas divorciadas. For dessert, you’d be remiss if you didn’t order the restaurant’s fabulous tres leche cake.

Courtesy The Mermaid Oyster Bar

For some delicious fun in Times Square, The Mermaid Oyster Bar is participating with Chef Michael Cressotti’s well-priced, $35 lunch menu and $45 dinner menu. First-course choices include fried Point Judith calamari with hot peppers, lemon and Old Bay aioli; “Dressed” Naked Cowboy oysters (every visitor to Times Square knows him!) with ponzu sesame and nori; or smoked salmon “Niçoise” with haricot vert, cooked egg and cured olive vinaigrette. Entrees include blackened fish tacos with pico de gallo, cilantro crème and slaw; and mussels Fra Diavolo with crushed tomatoes, Calabrian chili and arugula. Add a sweet finish to your meal with a Key Lime tart or salted caramel soft-serve ice cream.

Courtesy Vestry

Über-prolific Chef Shaun Hergatt offers an elegant take on Restaurant Week at his Michelin-starred restaurant, Vestry, with a three-course dinner menu for $60, Monday through Friday. Starters include Carnaroli rice risotto with saffron, tomato confit and pine nuts; or celeriac soup with hot panna cotta, parmesan tuile and extra virgin olive oil. Entree options such as potato gnocchi with wild mushrooms, vin jaune and chives; and Wagyu beef with shitake mushrooms, potato purée and miso-mustard are offered. Dessert choices include Guanaja chocolate with passionfruit and cacao nibs, and homemade cheesecake with honey crisp apple.

Courtesy MIFUNE

Beloved midtown Japanese MIFUNE will be offering a three-course dinner for Restaurant Week. Also a Michelin-starred restaurant, MIFUNE focuses on Neo-Washoku cooking, with the chefs’ signature style an infusion of French culinary techniques and flavors into Japanese cuisine. The typically omakase menu changes for each seating but is sure to be a standout.

Courtesy Dowling's at The Carlyle

Notch the class quotient up at Dowling’s at The Carlyle with special lunch and dinner menus. Chef Sylvain Delpique’s menus include choices such as carrot-coconut soup with pumpkin seeds, mint and basil oil; and tuna tartare with avocado, lemon cream and taro chips. Vegetarian s can choose roasted acorn squash with curried pepper sauce for their main course while omnivores can pick from Faroe Island poached salmon with horseradish cream and asparagus, chicken paillard or lobster Caesar salad. This is where you can also have an exquisite burger, Carlyle style. At dinner, the entrees shine with Peking duck and Steak Diane flambéed with cognac. For a sweet finish, don’t miss the restaurant’s lovely crepes Suzette served tableside or their raspberry soufflé for dinner. That’s true class.

Courtesy Archer & Goat

One of my favorite “finds,” Harlem’s Archer & Goat draws culinary inspiration from the husband-wife owners’ Latin American and South Asian heritages with a menu built around flavors and ingredients from Puerto Rico, Ecuador and Bangladesh. Their three-course $30 dinner is a true bargain and is available Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Try the elaborately prepared crispy Brussel sprouts with cilantro chimichurri and pickled chilis; roasted carrots with tamarind chutney, sesame seeds and dill; arugula salad with spicy chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumbers, and pickled red onions for starters. Follow with Goan shrimp curry or vegetable curry with turmeric rice, zucchini and cabbage slaw; chicken Vindaloo arepas with cucumber raita and cotija cheese; or vegetarian-friendly portobello mushroom arepas with cilantro chimichurri. For dessert, the “chef-wouldn’t-give-me-the-recipe” flan de Celeste with rose whipped cream is a knockout.

Courtesy Benjamin Steakhouse

Steak lovers aren’t left out. Benjamin Steakhouse serves a $45 weekday lunch menu items including, wedge salad classic Caesar salad, junior New York sirloin, grilled Norwegian salmon, New York cheesecake and more. On weekdays also, the restaurant’s special dinner menu, priced at $60, lets you choose from more steakhouse favorites like fried calamari, sizzling Canadian bacon, filet mignon, chicken parmesan and carrot cake.

Courtesy Merchants Cigar Bar

Making sure there’s something for everyone, clubby Merchants Cigar Bar on the Upper East Side is participating in Restaurant Week at their midcentury-styled lounge. To celebrate, in addition to their every day menu, the cigar bar presents a special dinner for $60 including deviled eggs, chicken lollipops, short rib pumpkin ravioli, garlic-ginger prawns, strip steak, lava chocolate cake and more.

The full list of restaurants can be found at nycgo.com.

The Karpovsky Variations: A Brilliant, Engaging and Haunting Study in Family Relations

Playing through the end of the month, Adam Kraar’s is a study in family relations. The off-Broadway play makes its world premiere courtesy of Boomerang Theatre Company.

Courtesy Boomerang Theatre Company

Julia Karpovsky’s father Lawrence is brilliant and talented. Living away from his family, somewhere across the globe, with his daughter Julia and a very absent mother, he is always on a plane or smoking a pipe to seemingly hide from something, Laurence is struggling with his wife and also having difficulty establishing a relationship with Julia. His brothers, Barry and Harold, live in the US and have welcomed Julia into their complicated lives as she moves to the United States for school.

Photo by Isaiah Tanenbaum Theatrica

Growing up among her eccentric and disparate relatives, Julia navigates her way through a family with a missing piece and a father who has walked back from his musicality to a life of running from country to country as a journalist. She, herself, is trying to find herself as a musician, linking her clarinet play to elusive notes connected with Jewish melodies that she heard her father play when she was a child. We see her evolve from a child to an adolescent all in the opening scene, leading to her transformation as a “wandering Jew,” unsure of how she fits in.

Photo by Isaiah Tanenbaum Theatrica

The play runs for 120 minutes with a short 10-minute intermission and switches back and forth in time periods, not unlike many of our favorite television shows today such as This Is Us. The matriarch of the family, Great Momma Rose, appears both in real time and in after-death flashbacks as a symbol of what the Karpovsky family was and could be in different times. A fascinating glimpse into the search for connection with people and through music, the play traces the Karpovskys’ encounters at airport lounges over two decades as they improvise what it means to be a family, bringing kugel to share along with tales of disappointments and problems.

Playwright Adam Kraar creates stories about cross-cultural clashes and connections, including works about American families in Asia, the Civil Rights Movement, and quixotic rebels who challenge societal boundaries. Adam’s plays have been developed and/or produced at Primary Stages, The Public Theatre, Theater for the New City, Theatreworks U.S.A., The New Group, N.Y. Theatre Workshop, Cherry Lane, LaMama, Stella Adler Studio, Geva Theatre, and many others.

The talented ensemble includes:

Photo by Isaiah Tanenbaum Theatrica

Ezra Barnes as Lawrence Karpovsky has performed in many off-Broadway shows including Queen, Breakfast with Mugabe, Transparent Falsehood, To Kill a Mockingbird in White, America English Bride, The Miser and Richard II.

Photo by Isaiah Tanenbaum Theatrica

Like her character Julia Karpovsky, Rivka Borek is a third culture kid, growing up in Hong Kong and London before moving to America at 15. She has been seen in Off-Broadway in Love’s Labour’s Lost and in regional productions including Hamlet; Sense and Sensibility, Oh Gastronomy! , Shrew, and Romeo and Juliet.

Photo by Isaiah Tanenbaum Theatrica

Barbara Broughton, Great Momma Rose, is familiar to New York theater audiences from Sunday in The Park with George and Music Music on Broadway and off-Broadway in Grey Gardens and A Little Night Music.

Photo by Isaiah Tanenbaum Theatrica

J. Anthony Crane, Barry Karpovsky, has played in NYC on Broadway in The Country House, Sight Unseen, Butley and The Winslow Boy and is familiar from TV’s Succession.

Photo by Isaiah Tanenbaum Theatrica

Michelle Liu Coughlin, Maxine, is an actress, singer, and producer. Michelle toured with Lincoln Center’s Tony-winning revival of The King and I and has worked extensively in New York and regional theatre including City Center, Playwrights Horizons, and York Theatre.

Photo by Isaiah Tanenbaum Theatrica

Chris Thorn plays Harold Karpovsky and has been seen on Broadway in Bernhardt/Hamlet and Off-Broadway in Pride and Prejudice and Twelfth Night.

Tickets are available at Boomerang Theatre Company Presents: The Karpovsky Variations – Events (onthestage.tickets) with the last performance scheduled for Sunday, May 29 at The Jeffrey and Paula Gural Theatre at A.R.T./NY , 502 West 53rd Street, New York, New York.

A Dozen Delicious Ways to Celebrate the Eight Days of Chanukah in NYC

Hungry for Chanukah treats? Here are a dozen places to grab some latkes, sufganiyot, brisket and more. Chanukah goes through December 6.

Manhattan

Veselka © Meryl Pearlstein

Veselka

Late-night revelers know Veselka in the East Village. The Ukrainian restaurant has been addressing munchies and warding off hangovers with their hearty borscht and pierogis since 1954. But, truly, it’s their latkes that are a standout for Chanukah. Dense and packed with potato flavor without any trace of greasiness, Veselka latkes have mastered the art of the potato pancake. You can sit outside in one of their private booths with heat lamps or join the party spirit indoors with the cool kids.

Courtesy Dagon

Dagon

Light your Menorah and then then head to the Upper West Side to the new Levantine restaurant Dagon from Chef Ari Bokovza. The pandemic-be-damned restaurant is serving up fresh grated potato latkes with a choice of three creative sides for their first Chanukah meal. Have it your way with a choice of horseradish-za’atar yogurt, smoked salmon, silan (date) and ginger apple sauce, pastrami-spiced short rib marmalade, harissa ketchup, tahini-amba (pickled mango), roasted bone marrow or American paddlefish caviar.

Courtesy The Regency Bar & Grill

The Regency Bar & Grill

Well-known among NYC’s power brokers, The Regency Bar & Grill on Park Avenue welcomes all with its Festival of Lights celebrations for lunch and dinner. Spice up your meal with classic Matzah Ball Soup and Carrots or a stack of potato latkes as you discuss the fate of the world and NYC business.

Courtesy Zou Zou’s

Zou Zou’s

In the new Manhattan West development behind Penn Station, the lively Eastern Mediterranean restaurant from Chef Madeline Sperling joins Executive Sous Chef Juliana Latif to celebrate Chanukah with an updated take on potato latkes, Zou Zou’s Crispy Latkes with Frizzled Thyme.

Courtesy Balaboosta

Balaboosta

Star of Israeli-Persian-Yemenite cuisine at her Meatpacking District restaurant, Chef Einat Admony has added holiday specials to Balaboosta’s menu. You can order Sufganiyot, the Israeli jelly donut staple of Chanukah, here filled with savory chicken liver mousse and topped with sweet amarena cherry compote. Additionally, try the Zengoula, a fresh Middle Eastern take on Chanukah sweets. The crisp funnel cakes are made with rose water, saffron honey and pistachio.

Courtesy PJ Bernstein

PJ Bernstein

Delis are a no-brainer when it comes to finding latkes on the menu year-round. Steve and Eugene Slobodksi’s PJ Bernstein on the Upper East Side has one of the best choices with more than half century of experience. Served up with apple sauce or sour cream, the latkes are delicious and worthy of ordering a bunch to go to freeze for the week. I’d prefer that you ignore the sour cream and just let the potatoes and apple combination work its magic.

Courtesy 2nd Ave. Deli

2nd Ave. Deli

The Second Avenue Deli may no longer be located on Second Avenue, but no matter, this is the real deal when it comes to deli dining and especially latkes. The latkes at their two locations on the Upper East Side and Midtown have been perfected over the deli’s 65-year history and it shows. They’re crispy with no trace of oil. The deli even uses them to create a crazy sandwich worthy of sharing, the Instant Heart Attack: it’s a mountain of a creation with corned beef, pastrami, turkey or salami between two latkes. I’m not sure that apple sauce would work with that.

Who’s Jac W.? © A. H. Reiss Photography

Who’s Jac W.?

This upstart restaurant featuring a mashup of styles and nationalities is offering latkes for their inaugural season. Indeed, Chef Joel Reiss’s latkes continue the inventive theme with Scallion Latkes turned into a meal with braised short rib, horseradish sour cream, natural jus and chive oil. For a sweet spin on a beverage to accompany, the Who’s Jac W.? sangria is made with Manischewitz wine, brandy, apple pucker, berry syrup and cranberry juice.

Courtesy Samesa

Samesa

Brisket is the name of the game at this Mediterranean fast-casual eatery at Rockefeller Center. After a day of skating or watching the light spectacular on the façade of Saks Fifth Avenue, head indoors to Samesa to warm up with this rib-sticking version made Mediterranean-style with apricots, dates, leeks and oranges as well as the usual holiday root veggies.

Courtesy Butterfield Market

Butterfield Market

Technically, Butterfield Market isn’t a restaurant – it’s where you order your takeout to create your at-home “restaurant.” Lucky for us, Butterfield Market doesn’t restrict selling their fabulous latkes to Chanukah. The light and golden potato pancakes are a tad on the pricy side but they’re worth it. And Butterfield’s homemade apple sauce is truly a thing of gastronomic beauty. Be sure to order a large portion of that as well, as you’ll want to eat it by the spoon even after you’ve finished all of your latkes

Brooklyn

Courtesy Olmsted

Olmsted

The acclaimed Prospect Heights restaurant from Chef Greg Baxtrom is offering a Giant Latke at their popular weekend brunch. Each Giant Latke is served in its own cast iron skillet and is topped with lemon crème fraiche and trout roe, very much Olmsted-style and very much delicious.

Courtesy Clinton Street Baking Company

Clinton Street Baking Company

Combining a brunch staple with a Hanukkah twist, the Time Out Market restaurant-bakery entices you to Brooklyn with its rich Latke Eggs Benedict. Chef Neil Kleinberg poaches cage-free eggs, pairs them with house smoked salmon and adds a bath of classic Hollandaise sauce, all served over crispy potato pancakes.

Planning a trip to NYC?